US should Strengthen Partnership with Turkey

Number 211 | December 3, 2012

The US should pursue closer partnerships with four powerful democracies — Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey, according to a report released on November 27 by the German Marshall Fund of the US (GMF) and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

In Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the Future of International Order, authors Daniel Kliman of GMF and Richard Fontaine of CNAS offer a new framework for thinking about how U.S. engagement with these pivotal powers can bolster peace, prosperity and freedom.

According to the report, the rise of these four powerful democracies presents one of the most significant opportunities for U.S. foreign policy in the early 21st century and the authors urge US leaders to pursue closer partnerships with these “global swing states.”

Offering policy prescriptions specific to each of the four countries, the report recommends the US to capitalize on areas where Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Turkey have already taken on new global responsibilities; and address some of the demands of the “global swing states” for greater representation in international institutions.

Kliman and Fontaine also ask the US to help the four countries strengthen their domestic capacity to more actively support the international order; and increase the resources and attention that the US Government devotes to these nations to better match their rising strategic importance.

Noting that the stakes are high, the report says if the US, its allies and these rising democracies strengthen the international order, they are all more likely to thrive. “If the global order fragments, they - and the broader world - will suffer the consequences,” they warn.

Kliman and Fontaine argue that “US decisions today will influence whether Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey contribute to the global order tomorrow.”